It Happened in South Beach

From the moment cautious Tilly Snapp learns that her eccentric aunt Ginger has died while nude parasailing at night on a trip to Jamaica, her life flips into fast forward. Not only has Ginger willed her Bostonian niece a risqué boutique in Miami's South Beach, she's left a more dubious legacy: a suspicious link to a valuable stolen chest containing sex paraphernalia and known as the pillow box of Win Win Poo. Soon all sorts of suspicious characters are tailing Tilly, including irresistible Interpol agent Will Maitland. With the help of two enthusiastic girlfriends and her aunt's oddball collection of tenants, Tilly sets out to find Ginger's killer. What she learns convinces her that she must handle this case alone, despite a growing attraction to attentive agent Maitland. She leads her followers on an international hopscotch filled with puns and wisecracks, most on the mark and some downright hilarious. Klassel (She Who Laughs Last ) deftly balances plot twists, relationships and Tilly's transformation from a frump to a hip chick as the author stakes out a claim to territory popularized by Janet Evanovich, Jennifer Crusie and Lisa Scottoline. (Oct.)